Like a boulder that was brought down by a torrent from above, the dealmaker and real estate dealer returns to his first life, in which he led his policies with tweets, threats, and signatures on blank checks. This is the policy that shaped the features of his personality, with which he changes his positions, just as he changes his clothes.

The eccentric man has no regard for his victims, whether women, heads of state or treaties, as he attacks them with excessive roughness to the point of tears.

He drools over the wealth of the country and its people, so he threatens and intimidates to melt and dissolve the maps, to make them easier for him to digest, without the slightest regard for customs, laws, rights, and facts.

In the biography of the one who has returned to the White House again, with a popular incubator that resembles him, it is correct to recall the popular saying “nature has overcome acculturation” and normalization as well, which he is trying in vain to buy at the lowest prices.

Like an attack squad reconnoitering with fire, Trump is waving his threat to achieve, within six days of his term, the plans for uprooting and displacing those whose homes and lives his predecessor destroyed.

The most dangerous thing that can happen to individuals is what is called “adult ignorance” or late adolescence, and its danger increases if it happens to leaders who hold the keys to the universe, when their appetite opens up to swallowing countries, as they swallow a “hamburger.”

The Israeli occupation forces launched a wide-scale arrest campaign in various areas of the West Bank at dawn and this morning, Thursday.

In Jenin, the occupation forces stormed the village of Bir al-Basha, surrounded the house of the young man Ihab Ghawadra and arrested him, and also arrested two other young men from inside the house.

In Tulkarm, the occupation forces arrested five young men from the town of Qaffin, north of Tulkarm, after raiding their homes. They are: Abdullah Osama Katana, Amr Yousef Katana, Marwan Adel Sabah, Saeed Biqawi, and Hamoud Al-Fadl Taama.

The occupation forces also arrested the young man Muhammad Salim Abdul Daim from his home in the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarm, and Mahmoud Nabil Adwan after raiding his home in Faroun, south of the governorate, and Yazan Al-Thaher from his home in the eastern neighborhood of the city.

In Bethlehem, the occupation forces stormed the town of Al-Ubeidiya to the east and arrested: Amin Daoud and Daida, Nasser Hassan Musa Al-Issawi, Izz Salama Shamaytah, Ibrahim Daoud Radaideh, Sand Yaqoub Al-Asa, Muin Mahmoud Al-Asa, Munir Shanaytah, Mujahid Muhammad Al-Asa, Othman Muhammad Atta Shanaytah, Yahya Muhammad Radaideh, Ali Shafiq Radaideh, and Moaz Muhammad Al-Asa.

In Deheishe camp, they arrested: Ibrahim Muhammad Al-Dakas, Saif Al-Islam Yassin Khalil Jabr, and Raghad Raed Abdul Hadi Shamroukh.

In Nablus, an occupation force stormed the village of Rojib, raided a house, and arrested citizen Dalal Fawaz Halabi, after searching her house and wreaking havoc on it.

Occupation jeeps and a military bulldozer also stormed Asira al-Shamaliya and demolished commercial warehouses belonging to citizen Ihab Awad al-Shouli.

In Hebron, the occupation forces arrested the citizens: Musab Al-Sayed, Omar Anwar Al-Haimouni, from the city of Hebron, and Walid Suleiman Sabarna from the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, after storming them at dawn.

The occupation forces also intensified their aggressive measures against the city of Hebron, its villages and camp, by closing its entrances with iron gates, military checkpoints and continuous raids. They also tightened their grip on the old city of Hebron through military checkpoints and electronic gates.

The Israeli occupation forces blew up a house in Qalqilya city at dawn on Thursday.

According to local sources, these forces blew up a house belonging to the family of the martyr "Jamal Abu Haniya" in Qalqilya, which consists of three floors and an area of no less than 100 square meters.

The sources reported that the occupation forces stormed the city of Qalqilya from its eastern entrance at dawn and deployed on Street 22 in the Islamic College area. The occupation soldiers began digging with heavy machinery near the homes of the two martyrs, Ali Khalil Abu Bakr and Jamal Abu Haniya. The excavations then concentrated on Abu Haniya’s home, and the occupation forced the citizens living in the area to evacuate their homes until the excavations were completed. Then the occupation completely blew up the house.

Abu Haniya was martyred in August of last year in a bombing operation carried out by the occupation on a vehicle on the Zeita-Attil road north of Tulkarm, which led to the vehicle catching fire and his martyrdom. He was accompanied by the martyr Ali Khalil Abu Bakr.

In this context, the Israeli occupation authorities continue to tighten their military measures, including raids and military checkpoints at the entrances to villages and towns in the governorate, and deliberately obstruct the movement of citizens by stopping their vehicles and searching them thoroughly at the checkpoints at the entrances to the villages of “Al-Funduq, Wamatin, and Nabi Elias.”

The United Nations announced on Wednesday that more than 423,000 displaced Palestinians who were displaced by Israel have returned to the northern Gaza Strip after the opening of the Netzarim corridor.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during his daily press conference that based on information he received from his colleagues in the region, it is expected that the number of people who have returned to northern Gaza since the opening of the Netzarim crossing on January 27 has exceeded 423,000 people.

Dujarric noted that humanitarian workers are trying to provide support to people on the move, by providing water, food and hygiene supplies.

He stressed that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is distributing identity bracelets to children to maintain contact with their families and ensure their safety.

He also pointed out that there were unaccompanied children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities and chronic diseases in need of medical support among the returnees.

On the other hand, Dujarric said that the humanitarian situation in the occupied West Bank is deteriorating rapidly, as attacks on civilian infrastructure continue, disrupting basic services.

He pointed out that access to water and electricity in Tulkarm city has become difficult, and about 1,000 people have been displaced from the area.

In parallel with the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers expanded their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the martyrdom of 882 Palestinians, the injury of about 6,700, and the arrest of 14,300 others, according to official Palestinian data.

Ten citizens were killed and others were injured, on Wednesday evening, in an Israeli occupation bombing of the town of Tamoun, southeast of Tubas.

The Ministry of Health reported, in a brief statement, that ten dead and a number of wounded people arrived at Tubas Governmental Hospital as a result of the occupation's bombing of the town of Tamoun.

The Commission of Prisoners' Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, and the Prisoners' Media Office announced the names of the Palestinian prisoners released in the third batch of the exchange deal in the first phase, which includes 110 prisoners.

Abu Obeida, the spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced the names of the detainees who will be released as part of the third batch of prisoner exchange on Thursday.

Abu Obeida said that the detainees Arbil Yehud, Agam Berger and Gadi Moshe Moses will be released as part of the exchange deal.

Hebrew media revealed the number of Palestinian prisoners who will be released from occupation prisons on Thursday, as part of the third batch of the exchange.

Read also: Hebrew media: Official warns of failure of second phase of truce before it starts

Channel 12 reported that 30 Palestinian prisoners were sentenced to life imprisonment, in addition to 20 other prisoners sentenced to various prison terms, in exchange for soldier Agam Berger.

30 Palestinian minors and women prisoners will also be released in exchange for the detainee, Arbel Yehud.

A number of citizens suffered from suffocation, on Wednesday evening, during the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the town of Qusra, south of Nablus.

According to local sources, the occupation forces stormed the town, firing live ammunition, sound bombs and tear gas, which led to clashes, during which a number of citizens suffered from suffocation.

The town witnesses almost daily raids by the occupation forces, which include confrontations, arrests, and suffocation injuries.

The government media office in Gaza called on Wednesday on mediators between the Palestinian factions and Israel to pressure the latter to bring in tents and caravans to house more than a quarter of a million families displaced by the genocide and whose homes were destroyed over the course of more than 15 months.

In its statement, the office stressed the need for the parties and mediators (Egypt, Qatar and Washington) to pressure Israel to implement its pledges and accelerate the implementation of the "humanitarian protocol" to ensure the entry of relief and shelter materials without restrictions.

He added: "Opening the crossings completely has become an urgent necessity to bring in tents and caravans to house more than a quarter of a million Palestinian families displaced by the occupation after the systematic destruction of the housing sector."

On Wednesday, the governor of North Sinai, Khaled Megawer, said that the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip will open within days, with a European-Palestinian presence.

In his statements, Mujawar explained that he inspected "the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, which is located within the borders of the North Sinai border governorate, and it has been 100 percent ready for some time, and there is no problem."

The government media official stressed the urgent need to bring in civil defense vehicles and equipment to retrieve the bodies of Palestinian dead from under the rubble and destroyed homes.

He stressed the need to introduce infrastructure maintenance requirements, such as the power station and water networks, to ensure the continuity of basic services.

He pointed out that "the occupation's obstruction of these needs exacerbates the humanitarian crisis and puts the lives of millions at risk."

He added that "the humanitarian crisis is worsening with the return of half a million displaced persons from the south and center to Gaza and the north during the past 72 hours."

Since May 24th until the ceasefire, very little aid entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing, after the Israeli army took control of the Rafah crossing (south), and destroyed and burned parts of it as part of an operation it began in the city on the 7th of the same month.

The displaced Palestinians returning to the Gaza and North Governorates are spending their lives in tragic conditions, with some sleeping in the open, while others have been forced to take refuge in the remains of destroyed mosques and schools.

On Monday, tens of thousands of displaced people began returning to the Gaza and North governorates, passing through the Netzarim checkpoint via Rashid coastal streets for pedestrians, and Salah al-Din streets for vehicles, after undergoing a security inspection.

For the third day, the flow of displaced Palestinians continues to return to Gaza and the north, despite the great extent of the destruction that has befallen them, which the government media office estimated at more than 90 percent.

This step came within the framework of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip that was reached through the mediation of the United States, Egypt and Qatar, and entered into force on January 19.

The first phase of the agreement will last for 42 days, during which negotiations will take place to begin a second and third phase, leading to an end to the war of extermination.

A White House official said US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday to combat "anti-Semitism" and threaten to deport non-US college students and other foreign residents who have taken part in pro-Palestinian protests.

A list of the most important provisions of the order states that Trump will order the Justice Department to “aggressively pursue terrorist threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews.”

“To all foreign residents who have joined pro-jihadist protests, we warn you: In 2025... we will find you and deport you,” Trump said in the order. “I will also revoke the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on campus, which has become infested with extremism like never before.”

Last year, American universities witnessed student protests to denounce the war on Gaza, with a number of camps being set up in universities including Columbia and Yale.

The students were demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, and the divestment of universities from arms suppliers and other companies profiting from the war.

University administrators and law enforcement authorities have cracked down on the protests.

The occupation government said on Wednesday that eight prisoners, including three Israelis and five Thais, will be released from Gaza on Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the three Israelis were Arbel Yehud, Agam Berger and Gadi Moses.

He added that five Thai citizens held in Gaza would also be released.

Jordan's King Abdullah II stressed on Wednesday the necessity of consolidating the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, and for the Palestinians to remain on their land and obtain their legitimate rights.

This came during his meetings with European officials, as part of an official working visit of undisclosed duration that he has been conducting to Belgium since Tuesday, according to a statement by the Royal Court, which reached Anadolu Agency.

The Royal Court said that King Abdullah held separate meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and European Council President Antonio Costa.

The meetings discussed regional developments, as King Abdullah stressed the "necessity of consolidating and sustaining the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, in a way that contributes to enhancing security and stability in the region."

He pointed out "the importance of the European Union's role in advancing peace efforts."

He stressed "the importance of intensifying the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza," emphasizing "the continuation of Jordanian relief efforts by all possible means."

The King of Jordan warned of "the danger of the (Israeli) escalation in the (occupied) West Bank, and the violations of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem."

In parallel with the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers expanded their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the killing of 882 Palestinians, the injury of about 6,700, and the arrest of 14,300 others, according to official Palestinian data.

Between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2025, Israel, with American support, committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, leaving about 159,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

In this context, King Abdullah stressed during his meetings, "Jordan's firm position on the necessity of establishing the Palestinians on their land and obtaining their legitimate rights, in accordance with the two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli)," according to the same source.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump suggested transferring Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan, citing the "lack of habitable places in the Gaza Strip" as a result of the Israeli genocide that has continued for more than 15 months.

Amman and Cairo rejected this proposal through official statements and declarations issued by a number of their officials.

Regarding the situation in Syria, after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the King of Jordan reiterated "Jordan's support for Syria's unity, security and stability."

On December 8, 2024, Syrian factions took control of the capital, Damascus, after other cities, ending 61 years of the bloody Baath Party regime and 53 years of rule by the Assad family.

The next day, Al-Shara announced that Mohamed Al-Bashir had been assigned to form a government to manage the transitional phase.

This evening, Wednesday, an elderly man was injured by Israeli occupation army bullets in Tulkarm camp.

The Red Crescent Society in the governorate stated that its crews dealt with a live bullet injury to an elderly man (70 years old) in the feet, from the Al-Akasha neighborhood in the camp.

It added that the occupation forces detained the injured man while he was being transported with the medical staff to the entrance of the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital.

This afternoon, two citizens were injured by the occupation snipers’ bullets in the camp. One of them was a 54-year-old man who was shot with live bullet shrapnel in the head, and the other was a 52-year-old man who was shot in the abdomen. They were transported by Red Crescent ambulances to the hospital.

During the ongoing aggression on the city and camp of Tulkarm for three days, 15 citizens were injured by occupation bullets and shrapnel, concentrated in the lower limbs. The most serious injury was to a child who was shot in the chest in the western neighborhood of the city. He was transferred to Nablus hospitals to complete treatment.

The occupation forces continue to impose a tight siege on the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital and the Israa Specialized Hospital, and turn their surroundings into closed military zones, after seizing citizens’ homes and turning them into military barracks. Soldiers also distributed threatening and inciting leaflets inside the emergency yards of the two hospitals.

Our correspondent said that the occupation forces obstructed the work of ambulances and their crews, stopped them, searched them, checked the identities of their passengers, both crews and patients, and investigated those who wanted to enter or leave hospitals, as well as physically searched them.

The occupation forces continue their aggression on Tulkarm camp, besieging all its neighborhoods and deploying foot patrols in the streets and alleys, with snipers deployed inside homes, who fire directly at citizens, while destroying the infrastructure and public and private property in it, and forcing citizens to leave it by force.

The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Knesset approved, in a preliminary reading, a bill that allows Jews to register themselves as landowners in the West Bank.

In a separate context, the Minister of the Occupation Army, "Israel Katz", appeared in a video clip filmed from inside the Jenin camp, where he stated that the occupation "declared war on Palestinian militants in the West Bank."

Katz addressed a message to the Palestinian Authority, saying: “Stop funding the militants and start fighting them seriously. Funding their families and teaching their children to destroy the occupation puts your existence at risk.”

The occupation forces continue their extensive aggression on the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm, their camps and villages, as the military campaign continues for the ninth consecutive day in Jenin, and for the third day in Tulkarm.

The aggression has destroyed infrastructure, including sewage, water and electricity networks.

The aggression resulted in the deaths of 17 martyrs in Jenin and 3 martyrs in Tulkarm, in addition to dozens of injuries and arrests.

Katz added: "Jenin camp will not return to what it was before, and we will ensure that the Palestinian resistance will not return after completing the military operation inside the camp."

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Begin said on Wednesday that the army "declared war on Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank."

Katz accompanied the Israeli army forces operating in and around the camp to see the progress of the military operation against Palestinian militants there.

He added in a statement from Jenin, where he accompanied the army forces, that "after completing the operation, our forces will remain in the camp to ensure that terrorism does not return."

Katz stressed that "we must work with all our might until we reach a situation in which terrorism will not return to this camp when our operation ends."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that the deportation or displacement of the Palestinian people is an injustice in which we cannot participate, stressing that the constants of the historical Egyptian position on the Palestinian issue can never be relinquished in any way.

This came during a joint press conference between President Sisi and the President of the Republic of Kenya, William Ruto, today, Wednesday, at the Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo.

President Sisi said that the displacement of the Palestinian people can never be tolerated or allowed because of its impact on Egyptian national security, noting that Egypt is determined to work with US President Trump to reach the desired peace based on the two-state solution.

President Sisi added that there are historical rights that cannot be ignored, and Egyptian, Arab and international public opinion believes that there has been a historical injustice that has been inflicted on the Palestinian people for 70 years.

He stated that Egypt warned at the beginning of the war that the goal was to make life in the Gaza Strip impossible in order to displace the Palestinian people, and Egypt announced its position from the beginning rejecting that.

Today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested four citizens from Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.

According to local sources, these forces stormed the "Al-Tuba" settlement in Masafer Yatta and arrested the following: activist Ali Rashad Awad, Hamza Abu Jundia, Ismail Ali Awad, and Ibrahim Nasser Awad, after they tried to confront settlers who carried out provocative acts and released their livestock around the residents' homes and into their agricultural crops.

In a related context, settlers released their sheep and cattle into the fields and crops of the residents, near “Mughayer al-Ubaid and Khirbet al-Rakeez,” and destroyed a number of trees and wheat and barley crops belonging to the Makhamra and al-Amur families.

In Jericho, the occupation forces stormed Al-Duyuk Al-Tahta and arrested the citizen Muhammad Suleiman Younis Fahidat, during the process of demolishing 5 houses and preventing press crews from reaching the area.

The Prisoners and Freed Prisoners Affairs Authority reported today, Wednesday, that the detention conditions in Megiddo Prison are still very bad since the beginning of the war of extermination against our people in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.

The Commission’s lawyer reported after visiting a number of detainees, according to a statement by the Commission, that the detainee Mahdi Jamal Abu Sharifah from Jalazone camp north of Al-Bireh, (32 years old), is still detained and is suffering from “Scabius” disease, and the prison administration has not given him treatment, and he does not have any extra clothes, and he has been wearing the same clothes for some time.

The detainee told the Commission’s lawyer that the situation in the prison is very bad, the food is scarce and poor, cleaning materials are completely unavailable, the shower area is open, there is no privacy, and the prison guards continue to insult and beat him.

The lawyer said that the detainee, Mohammed Ibrahim Saber Abu Muammar, from Ramallah (33 years old), who has been detained for three months and has been an administrative prisoner for six months, has not changed his clothes since his arrest, which has caused the spread of diseases due to the lack of hygiene. He pointed out that Abu Muammar is married and has a son and a daughter, and is in Section 8, where the extreme cold increases the suffering of the detainees.

In turn, the detainee Ayman Nasser Muhammad Subhi Salama from Nablus (31 years old), who has been detained since 3/20/2024, explained that the prison guards treat them in a humiliating manner during their transfer outside the section, as they are handcuffed in a painful manner during their interrogation, noting that he was severely beaten by 10 masked prison guards while he was in his cell, which caused a broken finger, severe pain in the back and spine, and sensitivity in his legs.

The Civil Administration's Supreme Planning Council is set to approve the construction of 682 housing units in three settlements: Halamish, Metzad and Pedval today, Wednesday. According to the plans, 531 housing units will be built in the settlement of Halamish, also known as Neve Tzuf, which will double the number of settlers there. In the settlement of Metzad (Asfar), 126 housing units will be built, and in Pedval 25 housing units.

The Peace Now movement stated that the second year of the Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben Gvir government is the year in which the implementation of the government’s annexation plans began, as specified in the coalition agreement by the end of 2022. In 2023, the settlement administration was formed in the Ministry of Defense, headed by Minister Smotrich, within the framework of the coalition agreements between the Likud and Religious Zionism. In parallel, Itamar Ben Gvir took over the Ministry of National Security and became Minister of Police, which reduced law enforcement on settlers who commit acts of violence against Palestinians.

The year 2024 was marked by a policy of reducing the living space of Palestinians in Areas C and B and expanding the Israeli presence in both areas. No previous year had witnessed such infringement on the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank, nor such weakness in dealing with settler attacks and their construction violations and their violation of Palestinian rights. In addition, budgets and approvals for settlement construction were transferred, and the legalization of settlement sites became unprecedented. This policy is being implemented through the establishment of a record number of random sites, the paving of an unprecedented number of roads, a sharp increase in the number of abuses of Palestinians, which the head of the Shin Bet described as Jewish terrorism, the closure of roads, and the whitewashing and support of random sites reached its peak. Since the formation of the current government, Israel has begun preparing the administrative structure for plans for the practical annexation of the West Bank by confiscating the powers of the Civil Administration and transferring them to a civil-political institution linked to Minister Smotrich.

Conditions in the West Bank during the year 2024

Settlements and outposts: At least 59 new outposts were established, most of them settlement farms that work to control land and expel Palestinians from it. This is an unprecedented number of new sites. By comparison, from 1996 until the beginning of 2023, an average of 7 sites were established per year.

Random sites in Area B: Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, at least 8 random sites have been established in Area B, meaning that 13% of the random sites established in 2024 are located in Area B. Hundreds of illegal roads have been paved, extending over 114 kilometers, for the expansion of settlements.

Approval of plans for 9,884 settlement units - The Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration approved these plans. In November 2024, the government decision issued in June 2023, which stipulated that settlement projects do not need to obtain approval from the political echelon, was implemented. The Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration began holding weekly meetings to approve building plans, and within six weeks it approved the construction of approximately 2,400 housing units.

New tenders issued for the construction of 1,399 housing units in the West Bank, excluding Jerusalem.

24,258 dunams of West Bank land were declared as state land, which is approximately half of the land declared as state land since the signing of the Oslo Accords until today.

The cabinet decided to establish five new settlements - Avtar, Givat Asif, Sde Ephraim, Adorim and Nahal Haltz, all of which are outposts that will become settlements. The process of legalizing five other sites as neighborhoods of existing settlements has begun - the sites of Ahiye and Beit Eliyahu, and the deposit of plans to legalize the sites of Mahana De and Givat Hanan has been approved. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich instructed government ministries and other institutions to provide financial support to 70 outposts for the purpose of building public buildings and connecting them to water and electricity networks, etc.

Settlers stormed a house in Hebron under the pretext that it had been purchased from Palestinians. The settlers were able to storm it after obtaining a “contract license” from circles connected to Smotrich. A plan was also published to establish a new settlement in Hebron, including 234 housing units, north of Kiryat Arba.

Money and budgets

The government doubled the budget of the Ministry of Settlement and the funds allocated to the Settlement Division by NIS 302 million. Smotrich spoke about an agreement he made with Miri Regev, the Minister of Transportation, which stipulates allocating NIS 7 billion to pave roads between settlement cities. In 2024, approval was given to pave many roads aimed at increasing the area of the settlements and the number of settlers in them. NIS 409 million were allocated for special projects in the settlements, including preserving antiquities in the West Bank, reconstructing the Sebastia Park, and developing the Old City Basin in Jerusalem (tourist settlement in East Jerusalem) as part of projects supervised by the Elad settlement association. NIS 75 million were allocated for random sites, including about NIS 39 million for settlement farms, some of which are characterized by violence against Palestinians.

Annexation steps

The powers of settlement and land confiscation were transferred from the army to an employee subordinate to Smotrich. The minister appointed a settler employee and called him “Deputy Head of the Civil Administration.” He is considered, in practice, the governor of the settlements and is not linked to the Civil Administration, but only to Smotrich. The position of legal advisor to the Civil Administration was transferred from the army to a judicial system linked to Smotrich. The government seized the powers of law enforcement in part of Area B from the Palestinian Authority, in complete contradiction to the Oslo Accords. The commander of the Central Command, under the direction of the cabinet, signed an order that gives Israel the power to demolish Palestinian homes in areas called “agreed reserves” under Palestinian control, and the monitoring unit began demolishing buildings erected in these areas.

Preventing Palestinians from accessing their agricultural lands: The army and settlers prevent Palestinians from accessing their agricultural lands surrounding settlements. Israel demolished 1,067 Palestinian structures in the West Bank under the pretext of not having building permits, 17 of which were in Area B, causing 857 Palestinians to lose their homes. For comparison, in 2016, which was the peak year for the demolition of Palestinian structures, 870 structures were demolished, and 2,704 Palestinian homes were demolished in the context of military operations, especially in Jenin and Tulkarm (the number is correct as of 1/25/14). In 2024, 215 homes were demolished in East Jerusalem under the pretext of not having building permits. The municipality began demolishing homes in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan as part of plans to demolish the entire neighborhood in order to establish a tourist park called “The King’s Garden.” In the Al-Bustan neighborhood alone, 15 homes were demolished out of a total of 100 homes for which demolition orders were issued.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported today, Wednesday, that 63 dead and 8 injuries arrived at the hospitals of the Strip during the past 24 hours.

The Ministry of Health said in a statement, "59 martyrs were recovered, two martyrs succumbed to their injuries, and others are new."

It added: "The death toll from the aggression has risen to 47,417 dead and 111,571 injuries since October 7, 2023."

It pointed out that there are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt or Jordan is unacceptable.

This came in response to a question about why Germany provided weapons to Israel, which committed war crimes, during an election event for his party in the capital, Berlin.

Claiming that Germany provided military support to Israel to defend itself, Scholz said: "We evaluated each decision individually. We did not discuss each decision publicly on this issue."

He added that they will continue to support Israel with weapons, adding that "respect for international law is at the heart of everything that includes civilian assistance to the people of Gaza, the two-state solution and a just vision for the future."

Scholz said, "The perspective on this issue must be a two-state solution through which peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine can take place."

"From my point of view, this means concretely that the Palestinian Authority administration must also take responsibility for Gaza, and the possibility of a two-state solution must develop from there," he added.

The German Chancellor added that living together can only be achieved in this way, and that his country will not give up defending it.

In response to US President Donald Trump, without mentioning his name, who raised the idea of displacing Palestinians in Gaza to Arab countries, especially Jordan and Egypt, Scholz said: “Any plans for resettlement, and the idea of deporting the people of Gaza to Egypt or Jordan, are unacceptable.”

Scholz stressed that hopes for peace should not be risked now, saying: "This is very important. It is not just a pause. A lasting peace must emerge from a ceasefire."

During the event, two people protested against Scholz because Germany supplies weapons to Israel.

On Saturday, Trump called for the displacement of the Palestinians of Gaza to neighboring countries, such as Egypt and Jordan, citing the "lack of habitable places in the Gaza Strip" as a result of the Israeli genocide.

With American support, Israel waged a genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and January 19, leaving about 159,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

Today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces continued their aggression on the city and camp of Tulkarm for the third day, causing widespread destruction to the infrastructure and citizens’ property, and displacing citizens from their homes.

A short while ago, a young man was shot in the head by an occupation sniper in the Hanoun Square neighborhood in Tulkarm camp. Citizens are calling for an ambulance to be brought in to take him to the hospital, as he is lying on the ground bleeding, while the occupation forces are preventing ambulances from entering the camp.

According to local sources, the occupation forces have sent more of their vehicles towards the city and its camp, which is under a tight siege, while their bulldozers continue to destroy the infrastructure in its neighborhoods, which has affected the water, electricity, sewage, internet networks, and public and private property.

It added that the citizens inside the camp's neighborhoods are living for the third day without water, electricity or communications, and they have become cut off from the outside world, and they are calling for their rescue and the provision of basic necessities, especially for the sick, children and the elderly.

This morning, the occupation forces forced the residents of the Shuhada neighborhood to leave their homes and leave the camp towards the city, joining a convoy of citizens who were forced to leave the camp since the first day.

All the camp's neighborhoods are witnessing a large deployment of occupation vehicles and soldiers, who are firing live ammunition intensively, storming homes and wreaking havoc and corruption, and subjecting citizens to interrogation and investigation. They have also forced a large number of them to leave under threat of arms.

In Tulkarm, the occupation forces continue their siege of the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital and the Israa Specialized Hospital, and obstruct the work of ambulances and their medical crews.

The occupation forces are deployed in the city’s various neighborhoods and streets, specifically the western, southern and eastern neighborhoods, obstructing the movement of vehicles, stopping them, searching them and forcing their passengers to return to their homes under threat of arms.

It also stops citizens, especially young men, detains them and abuses them after checking their identities.

In a later development, the occupation forces raided a number of citizens' homes in the western neighborhood of the city, some of which were turned into military barracks after their residents were expelled from them. They checked their identities and subjected them to interrogation, without any arrests being reported.

The occupation soldiers were seen trying to open old and abandoned houses in the western neighborhood, which belong to the Habayeb family, using heavy tools.

In addition, Tulkarm Municipality crews are working to repair the main water lines feeding parts of the city, located in the vicinity of Jamal Abdel Nasser Square, which were destroyed by the occupation bulldozers two days ago, causing water to be cut off from large parts of the city.

Last night, the young man Ayman Al-Naji was martyred in the Artah suburb, south of Tulkarm, bringing the number of martyrs in Tulkarm over the past two days to three, after the occupation bombed a vehicle in front of the entrance to Nour Shams camp, killing two young men who were inside it.

In the early hours of dawn today, the occupation bulldozers demolished the home of the family of the martyr Tamer Fuqaha in the Shuwaika suburb, north of the city, who was martyred in November of last year 2024.

Israel received American pledges to halt the reconstruction of areas in the northern Gaza Strip, and to postpone the process of introducing prefabricated homes (caravans) into areas in northern Gaza adjacent to the settlements to a longer time frame, until security plans are agreed upon to ensure the security of the settlements adjacent to the Strip, according to what Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Wednesday morning.

The American pledges were conveyed to Tel Aviv during a meeting between the US President's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to the announcement of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

It was reported that there is an American plan that includes security concepts and projects that will be funded by the United States and the Gulf, related to the permanent buffer zone between the settlements of the Gaza Strip and the Strip, to ensure that the Strip does not pose any future threat to Israel.

According to the information, the American pledges to Netanyahu to urge him to proceed with the agreement aim in their content to push the Palestinians to emigrate from the Strip, by obstructing and slowing down the reconstruction process and making the areas of northern Gaza uninhabitable in the long term.

In this context, Witkov arrived in Israel on a visit that includes a field tour in the Gaza Strip, to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli reports indicated that Witkov's visit comes amid ongoing preparations and preliminary discussions regarding the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, negotiations for which are scheduled to begin on the 16th day of the agreement, which falls next Tuesday.

As part of his visit to the region, the US envoy intends to conduct a field visit to the Gaza Strip, which may include the Netzarim axis and the Kerem Shalom crossing, amid reports that the US administration aims to ensure the full implementation of the agreement in relation to the normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Today, Wednesday, the prisoners' institutions announced the martyrdom of two detainees from the Gaza Strip, namely: Muhammad Sharif Al-Asali and Ibrahim Adnan Ashour, in the occupation prisons.

To follow ...

Amidst the scene of massive destruction that covered most areas of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, the smell of gunpowder still filled the air, bearing witness to what had happened to the place.

The faces of the returnees showed signs of pain and astonishment, reflecting deep wounds that are difficult to describe or bear, according to what was reported by a Xinhua News Agency correspondent.

Silence hung over the scene, broken only by the sound of falling rubble as residents tried to remove what remained of their destroyed homes.

Time seemed to have stopped here, as scattered stones silently told stories of pain and ongoing suffering, and the alleys that were once teeming with life became empty, devoid of everything except the memories of people who used to fill the place with laughter and hope.

After an arduous journey on foot that lasted for hours, a number of returning displaced people sat on the ruins of their homes, staring into space, their features telling of a frantic race with memories of the past... memories that seemed scattered between every destroyed corner of their places that were once full of life.

The returnees' steps were heavy, as if the earth itself was suffering under the weight of the grief they carried. Each movement was like a new testimony to the weight of the suffering that had not left them from the moment they left their homes until they returned to their ruins.

When Mariam Abu Shahla arrived in her hometown, in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood west of Gaza City, she could not recognise the neighbourhood where she had spent 25 years of her life, as the rubble had swallowed everything.

“The houses that were once full of memories have become piles of stones and silence, as if the earth itself has swallowed everything,” Maryam added.

Maryam does not know where to go or where to set up her tent, in the absence of any political solutions to save her from this “hell,” as she puts it.

"Even all the words in the Arabic dictionary cannot describe the horror of what we are seeing," she says in a choked voice.

As for Abdul Rahman Abu Sitta, from the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, he returned to his neighborhood after a year of displacement, only to find that his town had completely disappeared.

“I lost everything,” Abu Sitta said. “Not only our homes were destroyed, even our memories.”

"This is not a war against a Palestinian faction, but a war against our existence as Palestinians," the man continued.

Despite the devastation, Abu Sitta insisted on searching for hope among the rubble. He said, “I see in every destroyed corner a part of the past that has evaporated and vanished.”

"Israel has always sought to end our existence, but we are here to stay, and we will persevere no matter the difficulties," he added.

Sajida Ayesh, a Palestinian from the Saftawi neighborhood in northern Gaza, sums up her determination to stay despite the extent of the destruction that has befallen her area, saying, “We are here despite everything... proving our existence and rebuilding what others have destroyed.”

Sajida was forced to flee several times to the southern areas of the Gaza Strip in search of safety for her family of five.

With a voice full of sadness and defiance, Sajida recounts the details of the suffering she experienced, saying, “There, in the south, we experienced the most difficult types of torture. Fear, hunger, and fatigue never left us. There was no safe place, and our displacement was the biggest lie that the Israeli army had marketed.”

Despite all this, Sajida asserts with determination, “I will not repeat this mistake, even if the army kills us here. We will die in our homes and on our land, not somewhere else.”

When Sajida saw the beach in Gaza, she tried to recapture the moments of reassurance that the sea used to give her. But she said with a tone tinged with sorrow, “Even the sea has changed… That sea that always symbolized freedom and unlimited hopes, now groans with us, as if it shares our pain.”

The large number of returnees, who have exceeded half a million people according to initial estimates, face enormous challenges, as many will suffer from shortages of basic materials such as food and water, while others will be forced to live on the streets at the mercy of winter. Hosni Muhanna, an official in the Gaza municipality, described the situation as “catastrophic by all standards” in the city. “The infrastructure has been almost completely destroyed, and we are doing everything we can to provide basic services such as water and electricity,” he added. “We have worked to maintain some water wells and networks in an attempt to provide as much water as possible to the displaced,” he continued. “The difficult reality and the challenges are enormous and exceed our current capacity. There is an urgent need for international support to secure the needs of the returning population, especially in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions we are living in,” he added. Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the NGO Network in the Gaza Strip, said that the return of thousands of displaced people to the northern areas of the Strip represents “a new phase of suffering,” with the enormous humanitarian challenges they face continuing. Al-Shawa explained that “the scenes we are seeing show the scale of the disaster, as many have returned to find their homes transformed into “We are facing a complex humanitarian crisis, as the displaced are facing a severe shortage of shelter, clean water, and food, amid harsh winter weather and shelters,” he added. He pointed out that the situation requires “urgent international intervention” to secure the basic needs of the affected population. “Despite the local efforts made to provide relief to the population, the current situation is beyond the capabilities of any local party,” Al-Shawa continued. “There is a need for a responsible international position to alleviate the suffering of the population and ensure the reconstruction of what was destroyed by the war.”

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 376,000 Palestinians returned to the northern Gaza Strip between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon.

The office explained that half of these displaced persons are men, a quarter are women and the other quarter are children.

OCHA relied on figures from a working group of several organizations that set up census points throughout the Strip.

“Pregnant or lactating women, the elderly, people with disabilities, people with chronic diseases or in need of urgent medical care, or unaccompanied minors are among the key vulnerable groups of displaced people who have made this difficult journey on foot,” the office said.

A family, including a child, suffered from suffocation due to inhaling toxic gas fired by the Israeli occupation forces during their raid on the town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit.

The mayor of Deir Istiya, Abdul Rahim Zidane, reported that the occupation army stormed the area adjacent to the entrance to the town last night and fired tear gas bombs at citizens’ homes, which resulted in a family suffering from suffocation, including a four-month-old child.

Zidane pointed out that the occupation forces are targeting the town repeatedly, and are continuing their attacks on citizens and their property, closing its main entrance, and preventing citizens from moving.

While the massive return of Gazans to the north of the Strip from its center and south continues, amidst large crowds and heartwarming scenes, and despite tens of thousands being certain that there are no homes or buildings suitable for living, the love of the homeland and the soil of Gaza is greater than anything else and mixes feelings of joy of return with sadness and grief as the search for the bodies of the martyrs begins under the rubble, as the opportunity to obtain a ceasefire and curb the Israeli aggression is in itself a gain for those seeking to rebuild, cling to the land, hold on to it and stand firm on its soil no matter the cost.

Despite all this, Western voices and mouthpieces, led by the United States, continue to follow Israeli desires to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and settle them in a Western or Arab country. After the failure of the American attempt with Jordan and Egypt, the option of Indonesia appears as a new solution amidst a strange and suspicious insistence by President Trump, who seeks to deport two million Palestinians to the Asian country under the pretext that there is no security to live in Gaza.

Indonesia did well when Foreign Ministry spokesman Totok Roliensya Sumert denied that his country had received any offer from any party, including the United States, regarding the transfer of Palestinian refugees from Gaza to Indonesia, and stressed that the Indonesian government supports the reconstruction of Gaza in various ways without receiving Palestinian refugees on its territory.

The Foreign Minister did well when he announced that his country is ready to support the reconstruction of Gaza, increase the flow of aid, and send peacekeeping forces if the United Nations requests it. This is a civilized approach that our people respect. As for the suspicious calls for displacement, whatever their source, they are rejected and condemned, and the Palestinian people will confront them with all their strength.

We would also like to salute the countries of the region, including Egypt and Jordan, which rejected the idea of receiving Palestinian refugees, and affirmed their commitment to keeping the Palestinians on their land, as stated by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who said that “Jordan is for Jordanians, and Palestine is for Palestinians,” while Egypt stressed its rejection of any forced transfer of Palestinians.

In the latest episode of the Israeli targeting of this plan, Channel 7 published yesterday what the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army published regarding the Rafah crossing when he said: Israel will allow the residents of Gaza to leave the Rafah crossing to Egypt, but only in one direction, and that they will not be able to return to Gaza, where the story is completely consistent with the calls for voluntary displacement advocated by extremist ministers.

Taking such a crazy step would threaten the stability of the countries of the region, provoke widespread popular anger, and would certainly face strong resistance from the Arab countries and the Palestinians, who would fight it because it is an attempt at demographic change and ethnic cleansing.

Just as all previous attempts have failed, this step will collapse in the face of our people’s ambition and will. Even the recent attempts in Jenin and Tulkarm, through demolishing homes and expelling residents, will not deter our people from standing up to these conspiracies and fighting them forcefully, because displacement operations are war crimes that do not comply with any international or humanitarian law, and everyone must confront them firmly and forcefully and not allow them to pass.

The Israeli occupation forces launched an arrest campaign in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem at dawn on Wednesday.

In occupied Jerusalem, the occupation forces arrested Hamza Zaghir, Adi Jihad Zaghir, Ahmed Basem Zaghir, Abdullah Munir Zaghir, Moataz Zaghir, Izz al-Din Misbah Abu Subaih, Subaih Misbah Abu Subaih, Mahmoud Triyaki, and the freed prisoner Majed al-Jubeh, from the city of Jerusalem, on the pretext of their participation in welcoming the freed Jerusalemite prisoner Ashraf al-Zaghir, who was released as part of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

They also raided the home of the freed Jerusalemite prisoner Ashraf Zaghir, searched it and ransacked its contents.

The occupation also arrested the young man Mahmoud Al-Taryaki from the town of At-Tur, east of Jerusalem, after raiding his home and tampering with its contents.

In Ramallah, the occupation forces raided many citizens' homes during their storming of the city of Al-Bireh, the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah, the villages of Deir Ammar, Kober, Shaqba, Abu Shakhdam, and Al-Mazra'a Al-Qibliya, northwest of Ramallah, the towns of Silwad, Kafr Malik, and the village of Barqa, east of Ramallah, and the Jalazone camp, north of Ramallah.

In Tulkarm, the occupation forces arrested the young man, Tamer Issam Nassar, after raiding and searching his home in the town of Anabta. He is a former detainee.

In Jenin, the occupation forces raided the house of the young man, An’ad Abu al-Khair Tahaineh, in the town of Silat al-Harithiya, and ransacked its contents, before arresting him.

Khalil Al-Tafakji: Demolishing homes and establishing settlement outposts in Jerusalem are part of a clear strategy to expel Jerusalemites and replace them with Israelis

Dr. Hassan Khater: Demolition and settlement are among the most dangerous plans of the occupation aimed at displacing the people of Jerusalem and controlling the Holy City and its sanctities

Medhat Diba: The policy of closure and intensification of military checkpoints is an unprecedented collective punishment, a war crime, and part of the plan to annex the West Bank

Ismail Muslimani: Israel seeks, through the "E1" project, to expand settlements and cut off geographical continuity between the north and south of the West Bank

Muhammad Alian: The occupation government is exploiting Trump’s presence in power and his support to intensify the demolition of homes as practical measures to implement the “Deal of the Century”

The occupation authorities have recently escalated the policy of demolishing homes in occupied Jerusalem, in addition to establishing settlement outposts within Palestinian neighborhoods, as part of a clear strategy to facilitate the processes of expulsion and replacement, i.e. expelling the Palestinian population and replacing them with Israelis, which means reducing the Palestinian presence in the city and strengthening Israeli control.

Observers, analysts and legal experts warned “I” of the dangers of racist colonial policies against Jerusalem and the people of Jerusalem, trying to sound the alarm, especially regarding the project to establish a new settlement known as “E1”, which includes the construction of 3,500 housing units and 4,000 hotel rooms on 12,000 dunams of land in At-Tur, Anata, Al-Eizariya and Al-Issawiya, noting that this project represents the end of any hope of establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and reinforces the “Greater Jerusalem” plan, whose area is equivalent to 10% of the West Bank.

They pointed out that since the beginning of the Zionist project, dozens of plans have been drawn up to displace the people of Jerusalem and control the Holy City and its sanctities, most notably the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. Perhaps one of the most dangerous means of displacement is the policy of demolishing homes, which has expanded significantly and dangerously today, as it is no longer limited to demolishing scattered homes and facilities as was the case in the past, but has begun to target entire neighborhoods and entire towns, as is happening in Silwan and the Al-Bustan neighborhood, where there are more than 7,000 demolition orders in Silwan alone, in addition to a decision to demolish the village of Al-Nu’man southwest of the city of Jerusalem and confiscate its lands.

In addition, they stressed that the Israeli occupation authorities have recently been adopting an unprecedented policy of collective punishment against the Palestinians, represented by increasing the number of military checkpoints to 300, a number that had not been recorded in previous periods, as most Palestinian towns have become surrounded by checkpoints, which has prevented citizens from moving freely between cities and villages, which they described as a "war crime" aimed at strangling Palestinian society.

Seizing 87% of Jerusalem's area

Settlement expert Khalil Al-Tafakji confirmed that the establishment of settlement outposts within Palestinian neighborhoods comes within a completely clear strategy aimed at strengthening Israeli control.

He explained that after 87% of the area of Jerusalem was seized, only 13% remained for the Palestinians.

He added that the Israeli security vision requires the establishment of settlement outposts to facilitate the processes of expulsion and replacement, i.e. the expulsion of the Palestinian population and the replacement of Israelis in their place.

Al-Tafkji pointed out that this Israeli policy began in 1973, with the formation of the "Arnon Givni" Committee, which was established by Golda Meir. At that time, it was granted all the powers and laws necessary to implement the policy of transforming the Palestinian majority into an Arab minority in exchange for a Jewish majority.

House demolitions aim to reduce the number of Jerusalemites

He also explained that the demolition of homes in Jerusalem comes within a clear strategy aimed at reducing the number of Palestinians, whose number has increased from 70,000 to 345,000 Palestinians within the municipal borders.

He pointed out that Palestinians today constitute 40% of the total population of the city in both its eastern and western parts, which prompted Israel to take steps to limit this increase, including revoking ID cards and building the racist separation wall that isolated about 150,000 Palestinians from the city, including residents of Kafr Aqab, Shuafat camp, and the areas of Al-Eizariya and Bir Onah.

Al-Tafakji stressed that the house demolition projects come in light of international support for Israel, especially after Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the annexation of the Golan Heights.

Establishing the "E1" settlement and promoting the "Greater Jerusalem" plan

He added that what is currently happening in Jerusalem is the establishment of a new settlement known as "E1", which includes the construction of 3,500 housing units and 4,000 hotel rooms on 12,000 dunams of land in At-Tur, Anata, Al-Eizariya, and Al-Issawiya.

He explained that this project represents the end of any hope of establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and reinforces the "Greater Jerusalem" plan, whose area is equivalent to 10% of the West Bank.

He also pointed out that Israel is working to establish a comprehensive infrastructure in the E1 area, including the establishment of a police station and the opening of a tunnel at the Zaim checkpoint to connect the southwestern settlements of Jerusalem with the Gilo and Jabal Abu Ghneim settlements via the American Street.

Al-Tafkji pointed out the completion of tunnels in the southwestern region under Beit Jala, and the opening of other tunnels in the Qalandia area, with the approval of the confiscation of 258 dunums of land from Kafr Aqab, Mikhmas, Al-Ram, and Jaba, to connect the settlements northeast of Jerusalem, such as Beit El, with the settlement of Atarot.

He stressed that the Israeli vision is very clear in exploiting international circumstances and American support, in addition to trying to please the Israeli right and left, as both parties agree that Jerusalem is the unified capital of Israel without a Palestinian partner.

Surrounding Palestinian neighborhoods with settlements

Al-Tafakji explained that there are other settlement projects, such as the "Atarot" project, which includes the construction of 9,000 housing units, and the "Khirbet al-Tabalia" or "Givat Hamatos" project, which includes 3,500 housing units. Work is also currently underway to establish infrastructure in the Beit Safafa area.

He pointed out that these projects aim to surround Palestinian neighborhoods with settlements and penetrate them with settlement outposts, as is happening in Beit Safafa and Sheikh Jarrah. In addition, work is being done to integrate Palestinian neighborhoods into Israeli neighborhoods to achieve a process of "merging and dissolving" between East and West Jerusalem, with the aim of emphasizing that Jerusalem is a unified capital of the State of Israel that cannot be divided.

The policy of house demolitions has not stopped throughout the history of the occupation.

Dr. Hassan Khater, Director of the International Jerusalem Center, said that Jerusalem has been at the center of the ambitions of this project since the beginning of the Zionist project and the establishment of the occupation state, as dozens of plans were drawn up to displace the people of Jerusalem and control the holy city and its sanctities, most notably the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. Perhaps one of the most dangerous means of displacement was the policy of demolishing homes, which has not stopped throughout the history of the occupation.

Khater explained that this policy has expanded significantly and dangerously today, as it is no longer limited to demolishing scattered houses and facilities as was the case in the past, but has begun to target entire neighborhoods and entire towns.

He pointed out that what is happening in Silwan and the Al-Bustan neighborhood is a clear example of this, as there are more than 7,000 demolition orders in Silwan alone, in addition to a decision to demolish the village of Al-Nu'man, southwest of the city of Jerusalem, and confiscate its lands, even though its houses were built before the establishment of the occupation state in 1948.

He also pointed out that the demolitions are ongoing in all the suburbs of the Holy City, making the future more difficult for the people of Jerusalem.

Changing the geography, demographic and urban composition of Jerusalem

Khater added that settlements and settlement outposts within Palestinian towns and neighborhoods in the eastern part of Jerusalem are among the most dangerous means used by the occupation to displace Jerusalemites and turn their lives into hell.

He stressed that these settlement outposts are expanding day after day, especially in Silwan and inside the Old City of Jerusalem, under various titles and pretexts.

Regarding major settlement projects, Khater pointed out that the occupation recently announced the construction of thousands of settlement units in the Qalandia area north of Jerusalem, in the southwestern part, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and other areas.

He considered that these projects would change the geography of Jerusalem and its demographic and urban structure, as the city would be completely isolated from its Palestinian surroundings, which would prevent the possibility of Jerusalem being the capital of any future Palestinian entity.

He also spoke about the "E1" project, which is considered one of the most dangerous settlement projects, as it targets a vast geographical area extending from East Jerusalem to the outskirts of Jericho and the Dead Sea.

He explained that this project includes evacuating small Bedouin communities and villages in that area, with the aim of implementing a broad annexation plan for large parts of the West Bank, led by Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich.

Khater stressed that this reality puts the Palestinian Authority at a dangerous turning point, either towards completing the construction of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, or slipping towards what the occupation seeks to do by transforming it into a civil administration for the affairs of Palestinian cities, far from any political entity.

He called for urgent action at all levels and by all means to stop these plans, save the Holy City from this dangerous fate, and protect the remaining lands of the West Bank before they are swallowed up by settlements.

Dr. Khater also stressed the need to confront these projects in light of the international policy complicit with the occupation, which was clearly evident in the crimes committed against the Palestinians, the most recent of which was in the Gaza Strip.

Increase the number of military checkpoints to 300

Jerusalemite lawyer Medhat Diba confirmed that the Israeli occupation authorities have recently been adopting an unprecedented policy of collective punishment against the Palestinians, represented by increasing the number of military checkpoints to 300, a number that had not been recorded in previous periods, including during the first and second intifadas.

Dibeh explained that these measures bring to mind the policy of “economic subjugation” devised by Shimon Peres, but they have surpassed all previous ones in their severity and impact on the daily lives of Palestinians. He pointed out that most Palestinian towns have become surrounded by checkpoints, preventing residents from moving freely between cities and villages, which he described as a “war crime” aimed at strangling Palestinian society.

Diba called for directing the Palestinian street to resist these policies through all legally available means, including strikes and civil disobedience, based on the provisions of international humanitarian law that apply to the occupied territories.

He added that going to Israeli courts to file lawsuits against the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance is an important legal tool to confront these policies, especially since these two bodies bear direct responsibility for issuing orders that serve the goals of the settlement groups.

Diba pointed out that the closure policy is part of the plan to annex the West Bank, where checkpoints are used to isolate Palestinians from their farms and lands in areas targeted by settlement ambitions. He explained that these measures make it easier for settler groups to seize land by placing signs, security points, or fences in preparation for establishing new settlement outposts.

Dibeh concluded his statement to “I” by stressing that these racist policies constitute a flagrant violation of international law, and require Palestinian and international action to stop them and hold those responsible accountable.

House demolitions to reduce Palestinian presence in Jerusalem

Israeli affairs analyst Ismail Musalmani said that East Jerusalem faces major challenges due to the policy of house demolitions pursued by the Israeli authorities. He explained that this policy aims to reduce the Palestinian presence in the city and increase Israeli control.

Muslimani stressed that the demolitions include homes built without building permits, which are difficult to obtain due to the severe restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities.

He pointed out that in 2019, East Jerusalem recorded the highest rate of demolitions, with 63 homes demolished in one month.

Muslimani addressed the establishment of settlement outposts, explaining that they are settlement blocs established without official approval from the Israeli government, but they receive unofficial support from the occupation authorities.

He said that these outposts are usually built on private Palestinian land and are used to expand existing settlements or to establish new ones. He added that the Israeli government provides support to these outposts by providing security protection and infrastructure, even though they are considered illegal under international law.

Muslimani pointed out that the newspaper "Haaretz" reported that Israel has drawn up plans to build a series of settlement outposts in East Jerusalem, including the construction of 9,000 housing units in the Atarot area near the separation wall and near the Palestinian village of Kafr Aqab. The plans also propose the establishment of a neighborhood of 1,100 housing units for settlers near the Palestinian village of Sharafat.

Regarding attempts to obtain Trump’s approval to confiscate the E1 area, Musalmani said: “The E1 area is a strategic area located between Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, and Israel seeks to annex this area to expand the settlements and cut off the geographical connection between the northern and southern West Bank. During Donald Trump’s presidency, the Israeli government tried to obtain his approval to implement this plan, but it faced international pressure that prevented it.”

He pointed out that the Israeli occupation forces in Jerusalem forced the owners of four homes and two shops to demolish them, which resulted in the displacement of about 40 Jerusalemites from four families, with additional demolition notices being issued in the town of Silwan.

Muslimani addressed the strike in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, saying: The residents of the Kafr Aqab neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem declared a general strike in protest against the Israeli measures that hinder their daily lives. This strike comes in response to the policy of closures and arbitrary measures imposed by the Israeli authorities at the checkpoints, which increases the suffering of the residents.

He added that the strike was held under the slogan "Enough with the daily humiliation", in rejection of the military closure of the main roads by the occupation forces and the obstruction of citizens' movement, stressing that the people of Kafr Aqab are demanding an end to the state of closure and restriction of residents' movement through the surrounding checkpoints, as the occupation has been imposing strict measures that have caused stifling crises for a week.

Muslimani confirmed that Israel has placed approximately 900 checkpoints in the West Bank and Jerusalem, including 82 checkpoints in the city, and that these closures, according to Haaretz, will be linked to the prisoner exchange deal, with each stage lasting 42 days, or approximately four months. These measures come in the context of the ongoing aggression on the Jenin camp.

He said: Observers wonder whether these closures are an indication of separation, destruction and preparation to strike every city, village and camp, as practices on the ground confirm that we are facing a very dangerous stage.

Muslimani pointed out that the Israeli "cabinet" has placed the West Bank among the war targets, which means that we are facing a great possibility of a bomb exploding that will lead to a third intifada.

The occupation government sees Trump's presence as a protective cover

For his part, lawyer Muhammad Alian, who specializes in land issues in Jerusalem, confirmed that the right-wing occupation government sees Trump’s entry into the White House as a protective cover or a defensive system that supports all the operations that were waiting to be implemented.

“Since Trump entered the White House, we have witnessed a significant increase in home demolitions, as the US administration has given legitimacy to these operations,” Alian said.

Lawyer Alian added that the demolitions have escalated significantly since Trump came to power, without any international or domestic oversight, and with complete disregard for all international norms and laws that guarantee the right to housing and living in dignity.

He pointed out that the right-wing parties in the Israeli government exploited Trump's term in office to implement the ideas that were put forward during the previous White House government, as these parties intend to impose Israeli law on the West Bank, and intensify the policy of demolishing homes in the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem, taking advantage of Trump's adoption of the idea of the "Deal of the Century."

Alian explained that the Israeli government believes that implementing the "Deal of the Century" requires intensifying home demolitions during this period, considering these measures a practical step to implement Trump's vision on the ground.

Regarding the recent strike in the town of Kafr Aqab, Alian described it as a pressure tool on Israeli society, but unfortunately it does not affect the Israeli government, which is busy applying its racist laws and implementing Trump’s vision, without caring about the extent of the damage inflicted on Palestinian and Jerusalemite society.

Alian concluded by saying that the Israeli government announces today that implementing the “Deal of the Century” requires the demolition of more homes, claiming that it is in line with American policy that grants international legitimacy to these actions.

White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt announced in her first press conference that the Trump administration has frozen $50 million in federal funds for "condoms in Gaza."

The Office of Management and Budget and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency “found that there was approximately $50 million of taxpayer money spent to fund condoms in Gaza, and that this is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money,” Levat told reporters. “That’s what this stop is about: being good stewards of tax dollars.”

Levitt did not provide further details and the account could not immediately be independently verified.

Condoms generally cost less than $1 each in the United States and much less wholesale. More than two million people live in Gaza, almost all of which was damaged by the Israeli war of extermination that destroyed almost the entire Gaza Strip.

But Andrew Miller, a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, denied this. “The Biden administration did not spend $50 million on condoms for Gaza,” he wrote on his X account.

"Either the White House can't read a simple spending schedule, or it's lying," he added.

US President Donald Trump has ordered a broad freeze on foreign aid and local grant programs in what the White House said was an effort to align federal spending with the administration's agenda under the Department of Local Government and the Office of Management and Budget.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that travelers to “Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza” bring “latex condoms” with them “to prevent illness or injury.” (The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services webpage was last updated on August 5, 2024.)

Israel claims that in 2020, Hamas used helium-filled condoms to send firebombs into Israel.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a halt to nearly all US foreign aid on Friday, except for funding to Israel and Egypt, according to an internal memo.

The memorandum excludes emergency food aid.

Levitt also said the United States was on the verge of disbursing $37 million to the WHO before Trump announced his withdrawal from the UN body.

For his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his concern about the freeze on aid by the United States, which has long been the world's largest provider of development aid in absolute dollar terms.